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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27984978">Actions speak louder than words</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/takirasu/pseuds/takirasu'>takirasu</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fluff, High School, Mentions of Anxiety, OC that I've been using for a P5 story is used here, Romance, Slice of Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but I basically only mention her name so it's not awkward, i don't know if this is considered angst I did this at 3 til 6am, i mean not directly but akira is anxious, it's 3am again, might make more of these dont know, so it's easy to be read as an reader thing, whatever</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:27:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,873</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27984978</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/takirasu/pseuds/takirasu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Finished with revision class she decided to walk over to Akira's class to possibly help him with his studies, only to find him work too hard and suffer, almost succumbing to his negative thoughts he likes to keep to himself. Eager too change his mind, it gets conflicting with his stubborn nature.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amamiya Ren (Persona Series)/Reader, Kurusu Akira/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Actions speak louder than words</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey! <br/>It has been two years since I wrote and posted something. I had had many ideas ever since I have gotten into Persona 5 a few months ago, but then I had this dream and I thought it was one of the cutest ones I had ever had and I wouldn't even need to push myself to come up with a plot, since my head had already done that anyway. A good possible exercise to get back into writing. Let me know if you enjoyed it! <br/>I had been working on a small fanfiction with an OC/reader thing for Persona 5, but I'm thinking about doing these kind of small imagines. They're cute. They're fun. They might make you smile.<br/>I need to get up in 3 hours so good morning or good night!!<br/>- May</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>School always seemed least buys on Saturday afternoons. Students either had gone home since it was a short day and they would get a longer weekend or they took the chance and stayed in revision class to study on their own.<br/>Since revision class was mandatory and Saturday was the only day it was voluntarily, not a lot of people took part in it. She was sure Ryuji and Ann had gone home as always, Haru had club on Saturdays and she had just bid goodbye to Makoto who was in the same class as her.<br/>As the 2nd Year students’ representative came a lot of duties and responsibilities. She often emphasized that it wasn’t nearly as much as work as being the student council president like Makoto, but being part of it still had advantages and disadvantages. She had to be a good example to the other students, especially those of 2nd Year. As a 3rd year it was her job to take care of the 2nd years, while the 2nd years had someone elected to take care of the 1st years while those had to be the most respectful to their seniors and elect someone to look after the 3rd years, though that was rarely necessarily.<br/>While she technically did not have to attend Saturday’s revision class since she had always been good at school due to her love for knowledge and studying, she still took the time and had attendance in the afternoon hours. From time to time whenever a student commented on it in her office she felt like she might have succeeded and positively influenced someone. Ever since then a lot of the student council members from all three grades had made sure to motivate their classmates by joining as well.<br/>Mei quickly adjusted her hairpin that had gotten a little loose and brushed her hair behind her ears before slowly sliding the door open to class, not wanting to interrupt anyone during their studies.<br/>Not much to her surprise there were only a few students scattered around the classroom, some of them silently studying and not paying attention to their surroundings while others had formed groups, chatting eagerly or getting help from seniors Mei recognized from her year. Her boyfriend was the former. Akira seemed to have been so fixated on his studies that he had not even looked up at the sound of the door sliding open while the majority of the students had stolen a quick and natural glance. As Mei had closed the door behind herself and walked past two young girls they had bowed to show respect to their senior, but she quickly dismissed it with a faint smile before striding over all the way to the window side of the room where Akira had his seat, catching Morgana in the midst of scolding him for something.<br/>It felt unusual to see Akira this troubled and that wasn’t even talking about him being completely different in the Metaverse. In general, he did well in school and whenever he had been the turning point to a puzzle in the Metaverse Ann, who was in the same class as him, liked to comment on the fact that he rarely didn’t know the answer to a question when a teacher called on him out of sudden. He constantly had ranked above average. <br/>Akira’s eyes were fixated on the textbook in front of him, right hand holding a pen and tapping with it against his notebook while the other hand brushed a handful of his dark locks to the side, making way so he could rub his throbbing temple with it.</p>
<p>He’s doing it again., Mei thought to herself, He’s working too hard.<br/>Akira made it look so easy juggling his duties as the leader of the Phantom Thieves and living an everyday live as a high school student yet like everybody else there were days when he struggled underneath it. <br/>Days like today.<br/>Not wanting to awkwardly just stand there Mei took the desk and chair of a now absent student who had their seat next to him and pushed it to towards Akira’s seat while simultaneously turning it to the right so that she could sit next to him. She had expected him to look up and greet her, but instead the only thing she got was his side view. Without giving her a glance Akira suddenly removed his fingers from his temple and went back to writing.<br/>“Hey Mei.”, he shot her a quick greeting and Morgana’s head poked out from the desk to greet her as well. “Finished revision already?”, the cat added. Mei simply nodded at his words. Her eyes were actually fixed on Akira’s textbook for a moment just like him.<br/>Ryuji liked to joke about how nice it would be to have a girlfriend a year older than him, a 3rd year, from the same school so that all the stuff he had to study would be the same things his girlfriend had already learned a year ago. A girlfriend and a reliable study partner.<br/>Akira had never asked for help on his studies now that Mei came to think of it. Either Ryuji asked him for help, the group studied altogether or Mei and him met up with the premise of not being alone, silently studying next to each other in comfortable silence in one of the booths of Leblanc, the air filled with the familiar scent of the coffee Akira would always make for them.<br/>Not even then he would ask for help.<br/>“Do you want help on your studies?”, Mei asked gently to not make him jolt due to her suddenly breaking the silence. Akira denied her offer with a quick shake of his head and flipped the page of his notebook. He had barely flipped it and his pen was already back on the paper, his small, black handwriting probably filling at least the 10th page today.<br/>“You know…”, she started after a while of observing him further and put her Shujin back next to her on the ground, “Genetics was one of my favourite topics in biology.”, she finished while propping her elbow onto the table and placing her chin into her palm. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t tired from her own school day, but the way Akira had to blink multiple times and obviously re-read texts indicated the he was pushing himself too hard. While that was something admirable to a certain extent both in their world and in the Metaverse it sometimes seemed that either Akira didn’t know it was harmful or he simply did not care about it.<br/>The seconds passed further and Mei had gotten no answer to her question. The only sound filling her ears was the small chatter behind them and Akira’s pen gliding over the paper, the fabric of his blazer occasionally making a sound when it slid over it as well.<br/>“Do you want to take a break then?”, Mei initiated, thinking that maybe taking the topic away from studying would make him talk to her.<br/>“I don’t need a break.”, Akira refused, his voice low and quick as if he was hanging onto a thought about genetics and didn’t want it to slip away, but still answer her.<br/>Mei heaved a sigh. Usually his stubbornness had its’ perks and it could be cute, but in all honesty she had to ask her herself what kind of answer she had expected to such a question. After all she was talking to the same guy who let them power through whole palaces within less than a few days, patching up with SP-adhesives in safe rooms and drinking cold coffee. It wasn’t rare that some of the members even took quick power naps if the really needed them. Akira always made sure everyone’s healthy and safe enough to keep going, but he was still strict at the same time. There were times when they had needed this, but that didn’t mean he’d have to push himself so much.<br/>“Are you sure you aren’t studying too much?”, Mei now openly confronted him as Akira flipped the page of the book, the same topic just further elaborated and becoming harder, continuing.<br/>It almost seemed like Akira wasn’t even being rude – not that that had crossed her mind anyway. It almost looked like by the way his eyes kept flickering back and forth between his notes and the textbook that he was distant, in his own world and not listening to anyone no matter what they said.<br/>“Akira?”, Mei tried more forcefully this time to test her theory. When said one neither said anything in return nor looked at her, just kept on writing like there’s no tomorrow, Morgana chimed in, “There’s no use, Mei. He wants to place 1st.”<br/>She furrowed her eyebrows. Who had planted that bug inside of his head? As already mentioned before, Akira scored well, above average even and he had never complained about his grades.<br/>“Don’t ask me why. He only told me today.”, Morgana filled her in further, reading her body language. She was looking at him attentively, trying to figure him out. <br/>It was moments like these where she got frustrated about how closed off he could be. She knew she shouldn’t point fingers since they were both similar in that aspect and it was the one thing they had actually bonded about in the first place when he had arrived at school as the transfer student, but in general Akira rarely expressed anything with words. You had to be close enough to him so that he had his guard lowered enough for you to read his body language and you had to be smart and attentive enough to decipher it. Sometimes she wished if something was bothering him he would just come talk to her.<br/>That didn’t mean Akira didn’t seek her help at all, but more like after the damage was done or the problem had toyed so much with him already that he was near a breaking point. Usually Mei could tell if that was the case whenever he texted her out of the blue, asking if she would like to come over to Leblanc, when he was way more affectionate and looking for her touch – but he wouldn’t say a word and she never pushed him since from time to time she got lucky enough to be able to listen to his worries.<br/>Deciding that in Akira’s case actions always had been more powerful than words, Mei leaned forward and placed her hand on top of his wrist. Akira’s hand instantly stopped and he completely froze in place, staring down at his notes.<br/>“I’m worried about you.”, Mei explained as her thumb started stroking the back of his hand, feeling the tension from the grasp around his pen he was still holding onto, determined to continue. His hand was cold, which was abnormal. It was in the middle of winter, but it was always Akira who felt like a portable heater. It was snowing outside and while Mei had switched from knee socks to thighs and put on a thick jacket with a fitting wool scarf all that Akira had brought with him was a black coat that looked like it was actually made for autumn weather, not for winter and snow.<br/>Mei kept on holding eye contact until his grey eyes met hers for the first time today.<br/>“I want to be a good example.”, Akira finally started and gulped shortly afterwards, throat dry from not having spoken properly for a long while. His shoulders dropped down as if he was finally relaxing just a little bit. “That is why I want to place first.”<br/>So that is what this is about. He’s doubting himself.<br/>“You already are a good example to us.”, Mei argued and got rather confused only seconds later, “And what do good grades and placing 1st have to do with the Metaverse and our business anyway?”<br/>“Knowledge.”, Akira explained not even a second later while his eyes went back to his textbook. <br/>“And discipline.”, he added. “We need both in the Metaverse. It’s important to have these traits and it’s important I have discipline as well when I expect it from the group.”<br/>Akira’s gaze went back to her, but this time she was the one to look away. He did so much for them. For the group, for the people they were helping. He did so many small things they never or rarely realized and that he never wanted any credit for. If she wouldn’t have decided to go, see him after school since they usually take the train together to Shibuya before he transfers to Yongen-Jaya and Mei to Kichijoji, she probably would have never known about his struggles, or at least not that early. Akira might have become more clingy if he was indeed stressed out from studying too much, but that’s it.<br/>It took a little time for Mei to get her words back together. Somehow she wanted to come through to him, to break through his stubbornness and make him realize how much he was already doing. He couldn’t do everything. He couldn’t possibly be in charge of everything. That’s why they had roles in the first place.<br/>“You’re doing more than enough, Akira. You don’t have to bear and do all of this yourself.”, Mei explained as her eyes went back to his, realizing that he had still been looking at her, grip around his pen softening a little bit underneath her touch.<br/>“On another note if you want to be useful. Ever since Mishima got my number he’s been texting me non-stop about a few Mementos requests over and over again and I won’t let you go into the Metaverse if you’re this exhausted.”, Mei explained with slight annoyance and fatigue filling her voice. She had only wanted to show him how important Akira was for their operations even without him studying himself sick to the bone, but he had picked up something entirely different.<br/>“Mishima’s harassing you?” His eyebrows rose up quickly, voice low and quiet as if he was asking something forbidden that only they were allowed to hear. She quickly paddled back and put both of her arms up to emphasize her words, “He’s not harassing me about it, just being annoying.”<br/>Akira exchanged a quick look with Morgana before looking back at Mei, slightly tilting his head to the side and becoming more open through his body language as he shifted in his seat so he would completely face her.<br/>“That is harassment.”<br/>This time it was Mei’s shoulders that dropped and her hand went back to his wrist.<br/>“The point is that I’m worried about you and if you want to be helpful it is pretty counterproductive to overwork yourself to the point where you’re too exhausted to fight in the Metaverse and I won’t allow you to go there like this.”</p>
<p>Mei noted how she had gotten further with her words as Akira’s demeanour was slowly beginning to change towards her. A small smirk tugged on the corner of his lips as he blurted out, “Says who?”<br/>In contrast Mei narrowed her eyes at him. It wasn’t rare that he had entered the Metaverse not in his best shape. He always had gotten out alive, sometimes just having a few more scratches and wounds than usual, but Mei feared the one day where it would become a problem. It felt like Akira forgot that he was human, despite his capabilities as a Persona user.<br/>“Me, second in command of the Phantom Thieves.”, Mei responded and Morgana let out a mixture of a laugh and a squeak, not knowing what to say. It was especially funny, because Akira had been the one who had come up with the idea of having a second person as a leader in case something happened or they had to part out of a sudden. As a rather supporting member she had been overwhelmed at first, but the rest of the members had agreed to his idea – and now it was striking him back.<br/>Mei knew all too well that if Akira really wanted to he could go back and forth like this and eventually outdo her. He was good at this stuff, so she quickly had to shift the focus back to the actual point.<br/>“I just want you to know that what you’re doing is enough and that you don’t have to overwork yourself at school, too.”, Mei explained genuinely, his smug little smirk slowly fading away.<br/>He had already done harmful stuff that she hadn’t known about, for example taking part in so called clinical trials for Yongen’s local doctor which often resulted in her boyfriend coming home wobbly or even completely drugged. He had stopped though after Doctor Takemi and him had built up enough trust between each other so that they would get as many medical supplies as they needed for the Metaverse.</p>
<p>“I respect that you don’t talk about your problems a lot of times, but I won’t stand there and watch while you indulge in behaviour that could be possibly harming you. We had that already.”<br/>Akira’s gaze dropped back to his hand that was still holding his pen. <br/>It was rather hard for Mei to talk to him like this, but she wouldn’t baby him and that was certainly not something he wanted to begin with. A relationship wasn’t always rainbows and butterflies after all and without her knowing about it Mei being this straight-forward and honest was one of the traits Akira actually admired about her ever since they had met.<br/>He didn’t answer as the gears were slowly turning in his head. His lips were pressed into a thin line as he seemed to be thinking about the whole situation.<br/>Mei’s tension finally eased as she heard the pen drop down onto his notebook, wrist slipping out of her grasp as he leaned back in his chair, hands falling into his lap.<br/>“We could leave and do something nice.”, Mei suggested, head back to rest on her chin as Morgana jumped onto Akira’s desk, “We haven’t gone to the arcades or played darts for ages!”, he exclaimed excitedly. <br/>Mei only chuckled to herself as her eyes went back to Akiras. For someone who couldn’t possibly do all this stuff he was awfully excited which was adorable, because it made Mei realize every time Morgana wasn’t necessarily excited due to the activity, but because he was spending time with everyone.<br/>“I actually miss going to arcades now that you’ve mentioned it…”, Akira admitted almost like a little child that was kicked as he looked back at Mei.<br/>“C’mon then, pack your stuff.”, she exclaimed while picking up her own bag from the ground.</p>
<p>“Should we text the others in case someone wants to join?”, Mei questioned as they had stepped out into the cold air, snow cracking underneath their shoes. When you’ve been in a warm place for a while it always felt much colder than it actually was. Almost like it was second nature Mei quickly had her arm around Akira’s who had his stuck in the bags of his coat, using the advantage of their height difference and leaning in for a moment, resting her head against his shoulder.<br/>At first Mei was surprised when he declined the offer, but at the same time that was typical for Akira if he was stressed out or upset about something.<br/>“We rarely get to go on dates or be alone.”, Akira replied as they were heading to the train station, “I want to do something with my girlfriend now.”<br/>It wasn’t that Akira wasn’t bold; he was actually far from that. It was just that he wasn’t often bold through his words. He wasn’t the type of guy to just blurt out these things or say I love you just like that, but more like the boyfriend who will just grab your face and kiss you in public, not caring about people’s stares. Hearing Akira express his love and affection for her, wanting to spend time only with her exclusively, made her cheeks blush light pink and her voice get stuck in her throat.<br/>“So it’s a date.”, Morgana teased and emerged out of Akira’s bag as they had entered the station, “Should I go somewhere else in the time being?”, he teased further with this infamous voice of his.<br/>Mei just tilted her head forward so her cheeks would be hidden by her hair falling just above her shoulders as Akira was busy scrolling through his phone, looking up arcades that were open and nearby. Traffic was awful on Saturdays and nobody would want to be stuck in a train for too long.<br/>“If you want to walk all the way to Leblanc through the snow I won’t stop you, Mona.”, Akira answered nonchalantly as he kept scrolling. Meanwhile Morgana was starting to panic.<br/>“N-no!”, he stuttered out which was rare, “I’ll keep quiet. You won’t even know I’m here, okay?”, Morgana finished as the train halted in front of them, opening its’ doors. It was packed as expected.</p>
<p>Mei had learned a lot about communication between two people ever since getting to know Akira and unknowingly she obviously used body language as well. She hated crowds and while she was quiet good at masking her facial expressions, the way she only kept looking down onto her phone and had grabbed onto Akira’s coat for support to not fall down since there were people standing right behind her was enough for him to know that transfer to Shibuya could be hell for her.<br/>Akira didn’t need to say anything as he gently put his hand on the small of her back, closing the last bit of space between them and pushing her into his chest, one hand holding onto the handrail above him to keep himself steady while the other went to her head. He felt her sigh into his pullover and relax underneath his touch. It was the moment he realized as he looked down at her that sometimes that was everything he needed after a stressful day.<br/>Akira would have never admitted it to himself and he would never say it out loud, but he had in fact been pushing himself and he had been determined to push past his limits today, no matter what. He was thankful that Mei had gotten him out of these thoughts that had been tormenting him for the past few days and he dearly hoped she knew that by the way he was taking care of her now in return.<br/>To him actions spoke louder than words ever could. Mei not letting up on him and genuinely being concerned, him protecting her knowing that she feels uncomfortable and scared. It was more than these simple three words could ever carry. He felt more for her than just simple love and he meant more than just everything to her.<br/>“Akihabara has one open with the rhythm game you like so much.”, Akira said as the doors opened.</p>
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